Reaching for the Stars
by Trillian Astra
Summary: A moment from Alex's childhood with the Others, when she goes stargazing with Karl.Disclaimer: Don't own Alex, Karl, Ben or anything else to do with Lost.


As the youngest kids in the village, Alex and Karl were natural best friends. There were a few older children, but they were in their late teens and didn't want a couple of ten year olds hanging around. So they were pretty much left alone, except for when they had lessons.

There wasn't much to do, and the village didn't have television, so when they weren't being given lessons they had to invent their own entertainment. Their favourite pastime was to stay up late, and make up new constellations of stars. Because they were taught Latin, they were even able to name them properly.

Right now, they were lying side-by-side on a blanket spread out in Alex's back garden, looking up at the stars.

"Hey, I found a new pattern."

"Where?"

"Over there, see?" Alex pointed up to a particular pattern of stars. "It's a teddy bear."

"Oh, yeah. I see it."

"What's the proper name for that?" Karl was better at Latin than Alex was, so he did most of the naming.

"Um… a bear is _ursus_, what do you think 'teddy' is in Latin, Alex?"

" I don't know… but Dad was telling me about this guy called Roosevelt, and his name was Theodore but people called him Teddy. Dad said that's why teddy bears are called teddy bears."

"So teddy is short for Theodore… that means teddy bear would be… _ursa theodorus_."

"Ursa theodorus. Cool."

They lay there for a bit longer, making up new patterns in the stars, when Alex had a thought.

"It would be nice to be able to go up there, don't you think?"

"Up to the stars? Yeah, that would be good."

"I've got an idea. It won't get us up to the stars, but we'll be closer to them."

"Alex…."  
"C'mon, quickly."

They got up from the blanket, and ran down the narrow path between Alex's house and the next, heading for the swingset in the central square. Alex sat on the plastic seat of one swing. "Karl, c'mon, get on." He sat down on the next swing over.

"Well?"

"Don't you get it yet? Start swinging. We need to swing higher than we ever have before." She walked her swing backwards, until she was as far back as she could get, then she tucked her feet up and let herself swing forward, getting higher each time. Karl joined in as well, a moment later, and soon the two children really were higher than they had ever been able to swing before. Alex called over to her friend. "Isn't this great?"

Karl shouted back. "Yeah!"

They were so busy trying to get as high as they could, they didn't notice Alex's dad come out of the house. He stood on the edge of the playground, watching them with a small smile on his face. When they eventually started to lose momentum, and slowed down, he walked over to the swingset.

"Alex? It's time for bed."

"Dad… I didn't see you there…"

"I know, you seemed busy. What were you doing?"

"Me an' Karl were trying to get closer to the stars, dad."

"And did you?"

"Yeah. It was fun."

"Well, I'm glad you had fun, but you need to go to bed now, or you'll be all tired tomorrow."

"Okay Dad."

"And Karl, you should be getting back to your mother now."

"Yes, Mr. Linus sir."

"Come on, we'll walk you home."

Ben walked over to the house that Karl, his mother and grandmother shared, which was on the opposite side of the square. He knocked on the door, and a moment later Karl's mother opened it.

"Ben? What is it?"  
"Good evening Anne. I just thought I should get this young man home in time for bed." He gently pushed Karl towards the door.

"Oh, Karl, I told you to be back by now."

"Sorry mum."  
"Well, never mind now. You get inside, say goodnight to your grandmother and get to bed, okay?"

"Yes, Mum." He turned back to say goodbye to Alex. " 'Night, Alex."

" 'Night, Karl." Then Karl went inside.

"Thanks for bringing him back, Ben."

"It's no problem. Good night then."

"Good night."

As Karl's mother shut the door, Ben and his little daughter headed back across the square.

"Dad… I made a new star pattern tonight."

"You did? What's it called?"

"Ursa theodorus."

"A teddy bear? That's nice, honey."

**Author's Note: This was written because I like to think that Alex had a nice childhood growing up with the Others, so I thought I'd have a look at one moment in that childhood. It's just a one-shot at the moment, but I'm thinking about doing some more fics about the Others.**

**The "ursa theodorus" idea comes from something Karl said is episode 9 of season 3, "Stranger in a Strange Land." The thing about Theodore Roosevelt is true as far as I know.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Lost, Alex, Karl or Ben. But I did invent Karl's mother, because he doesn't seem to have parents on the show at the moment. Everything but Anne is owned by ABC or Disney or someone who isn't me.**

**Oh, and obviously I don't own Theodore Roosevelt either. Reviews are always appreciated.**


End file.
